Energy monitoring system and method

Abstract

A portable energy monitoring point includes at least one power plug receptacle, each power plug receptacle operably coupled to a separate integral power sensor circuit. Each integral power sensor circuit is configured to determine an electrical current drawn by an electrical load connected to the corresponding at least one power plug receptacle. An integral digital communications circuit is configured to wirelessly transmit to a remote device a power consumption for each of the at least one power plug receptacles. The power consumption is derived from the electrical current drawn by the electrical load connected to the corresponding at least one power plug receptacle.

1. A method of monitoring electrical energy usage using a plurality of energy monitoring devices comprising at least one power plug receptacle, the method comprising:
 receiving, by a central device, from an integral digital wireless communications circuit included in each of the energy monitoring devices, a power consumption corresponding to an electrical current drawn by an electrical load connected to each of the at least one power plug receptacles included in the energy monitoring device; and 
 transmitting one or more instructions from the remote device to one or more of the energy monitoring devices, to separately alter a flow of the electrical current to one or more of the power plug receptacles included in the one or more of the energy monitoring devices; 
 obtaining power cost information from the Internet; 
 calculating a power consumption cost corresponding to each of the power plug receptacles using the power cost information and the power consumption received from the corresponding energy monitoring device; 
 automatically determining a location for each of the plurality of energy monitoring devices; and 
 displaying a graphic including the location of each of the plurality of energy monitoring devices and the respective power consumption cost. 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the central device is a local computing device. 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the central device is in wireless communication with a smart meter, the smart meter being operably coupled to a source of electricity corresponding to a structure that includes the plurality of energy monitoring devices and configured to obtain the power cost information from an electricity producer using an Internet connection. 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 1 , wherein each power plug receptacle is operably coupled to a separate integral power sensor circuit used to determine an electrical current waveform corresponding to the electrical current drawn by the electrical load connected to the corresponding at least one power plug receptacle. 
     
     
       5. A system for monitoring energy use, the system comprising:
 one or more energy monitoring devices comprising:
 at least one power plug receptacle, each power plug receptacle operably coupled to a separate integral power sensor circuit configured to determine an electrical current drawn by an electrical load connected to the corresponding at least one power plug receptacle, and 
 an integral digital wireless communications circuit; and 
 
 a central device configured to: 
 communicate wirelessly with each of the one or more energy monitoring devices, 
 receive, from the integral digital wireless communications circuit, a power consumption for each of the power plug receptacles derived from the electrical current drawn by the electrical load connected to the corresponding at least one power plug receptacle, 
 transmit commands to alter a flow of the electrical current to individual ones of the power plug receptacles, 
 obtaining power cost information from the Internet; 
 calculating a power consumption cost corresponding to each of the power plug receptacles using the power cost information and the power consumption received from the corresponding energy monitoring device; 
 automatically determining a location for each of the plurality of energy monitoring devices; and 
 displaying a graphic including the location of each of the plurality of energy monitoring devices and the respective power consumption cost. 
 
     
     
       6. The system of  claim 5 , wherein the one or more energy monitoring devices are each connected to an electrical junction box. 
     
     
       7. The system of  claim 5 , further comprising:
 a smart meter operably coupled to a source of electricity corresponding to a structure that includes the energy monitoring device, and configured to obtain power cost information from an electricity producer using an Internet connection.